PRO FOOTBALL

PRO FOOTBALL; Williams: Decoy Extraordinaire

By DAVE CALDWELL

Published: October 6, 2003

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Oct. 5—
Miami running back Ricky Williams began to run with the ball a lot Sunday, as he always does, but he also seemed to slam into a lot of Giants when he did.

Many footsteps only got Williams right back where he began.

Williams's first seven carries netted no yards. Norv Turner, Miami's offensive coordinator, sat in the coaches' booth far above the field at Giants Stadium and made note of it. He decided that seven carries for no yards was not necessarily a bad thing.

Turner then decided to give Williams the ball an eighth time. But Williams did not keep it long. He rumbled to his left and quickly handed it to James McKnight, a wide receiver racing to the right.

Referring to Williams by his jersey number, McKnight said: ''Thirty-four is Superman. Defensively, the game plan is to stop 34.''

Because the Giants were so determined to stop Williams, they were susceptible to being fooled. And Sunday's game changed on that simple reverse play.

McKnight swerved around two tacklers to complete a gorgeous 68-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter. The Dolphins had grabbed the lead from the Giants, and Miami would roll to a 23-10 victory.

''It's a little bit of a feel thing,'' Turner said when asked why he decided to call the play when he did. ''There is a little bit of a risk involved. You've got to be careful with these things.''

This time, there was only a huge reward. McKnight, who had only two receptions in Miami's first three games, scored his first touchdown of the season, and the Dolphins (3-1) won their third straight game.

''When you hand the ball to Ricky, 11 people are going to run to the ball,'' Dolphins tight end Randy McMichael said.

Not every Giants player chased Williams, but McKnight had the wide side of the field to himself.

He swerved around Giants cornerback Will Allen near midfield, then pirouetted around safety Omar Stoutmire near the goal line.

''Things like that are what you need when they're overloading the line of scrimmage,'' Miami fullback Rob Konrad said.

The Giants loaded up to stop Williams because the Dolphins could not do much of anything else. Miami's first five possessions netted 3 points.

Quarterback Jay Fiedler threw passes as if his receivers were as tall as Yao Ming.

''We just couldn't get into a rhythm,'' Miami Coach Dave Wannstedt said.

A fumble by Fiedler led to the Giants' only touchdown, a 2-yard run by Tiki Barber with 9 minutes 16 seconds left in the first half. Then Fiedler completed two passes for a first down at Miami's 32-yard line.

''If everyone is keying on Ricky, we have to use everyone else on the field,'' Fiedler said.

McKnight said the Dolphins had run the reverse in practice three or four times last week because they knew the Giants would be concerned with slowing Williams, who had 347 yards rushing in the Dolphins' first three games.

''I couldn't even tell I was really running,'' Williams said of his first rushing attempts.

Chris Chambers was the only Miami wide receiver with a rushing attempt this season, managing 12 yards.

Turner had been tempted to use the reverse earlier, but he felt the Giants were susceptible at that moment.

''They were playing great defense, really getting after Ricky,'' Turner said. ''You've got to kind of counter it.''

The reverse seemed to open the Miami playbook. Fiedler completed three passes on the Dolphins' next drive, including a floater to Williams in the flat over Giants defensive end Kenny Holmes, and Miami's Olindo Mare kicked a field goal.

Mare kicked a 48-yard field goal with 12:46 left to give Miami a 16-10 lead, and after the Giants stalled on their next possession, the Dolphins assembled a 12-play, 64-yard scoring drive. Williams rumbled into the end zone from the 1.

Williams posed like a muscleman when he got to the back of the end zone. He finished with only 39 yards on 22 carries, but he was satisfied. So was McKnight.

''I'd been out of the end zone a little while,'' McKnight said, smiling.

McKnight also had two catches for 17 yards. It was a good day for him. ''Today I had the opportunity,'' he said. ''Next week, I might not make any plays.''

Photo: The Dolphins' Ricky Williams was stuffed by the Giants early in yesterday's game. His first seven carries netted no yards. (Photo by Vincent Laforet/The New York Times)